His Little Bird: Jaskier

Chapter 16

"No, no, darling. Hold your hands like this. It makes it easier to strum."

Y/n didn't know why she asked Jaskier to show her how to play his lute. It wasn't like she intended to pick up her own instrument and start playing. Maybe, it was because when she watched Jaskier up on the tavern tables, he played the lute like it was a part of his body. Now, she sat with him behind her, his precious lute that Filavandrel had given to him all those years ago resting in her lap, as she tried to position her hands correctly on the neck of the instrument.

"How the hell are you supposed to reach all the strings?" Y/n asked, her smaller, nimble hands struggling to get her fingers to the highest string. "I can barely reach the middle one before my hand starts to cramp."

"It takes practice," Jaskier laughed from behind her, moving her fingers just right on the neck. "I couldn't reach them all at first either."

"Really? With those fingers?" Y/n questioned with a sultry grin, her voice husky as Jaskier turned his head to look at her.

"Thank the practice, love," he spoke back, his nose bumping against hers as they smiled. Looking back down at the lute, he said, "All right, now try and strum."

Letting out a sigh, she brushed her thumb against a few of the strings, letting out a measly chord of pathetic, mismatching notes that made her wince at the sound. "By the gods, that was awful," she said, and Jaskier kissed her cheek from behind.

"As I said, it takes practice and years of work to learn which notes go best with which," Jaskier said, rubbing his hand up and down her arm as she tried once more. It sounded a little better, but Jaskier shook his head. "That was good, but you need confidence when you play such an instrument. That's where the true beauty of the music lies."

"I'll reserve my 'confidence' for throwing my daggers at an enemy running away from me, shall I?" she retorted back, setting the lute down beside them on the bed they sat on before turning to look at him with a grin.

"You do what you're best at, and I'll do what I am best at," Jaskier said, bringing his face closer to hers with a smirk upon his lips. He kissed her once, twice, and the third time he deepened it with his tongue, his hand sliding up her thigh.

"You've got a show in an hour," she reminded him as his lips trailed downwards on her neck.

"That's enough time for-" he interrupted himself by kissing her lips once again, "-at least one or-" another kiss, "-two times around."

She tried to resist, but his hands upon her made her let out a groan as she let out the word, "Fine," before falling back onto his bed, Jaskier being careful enough to make sure his lute was safely off the bed before continuing his work.

༻♕༺

Jaskier lay with Y/n curled closely into his side, playing with her dirty blonde hair. He ran it through his fingers, the soft tresses falling through them as he let out a sigh, feeling her trace shapes into his bare chest. She noticed his breath, and asked, "What is it, Jask?"

Jaskier was quiet for a moment, before he brought his hand down to her back and said, "I miss it."

"Miss what?"

"Your golden hair," he told her, and she didn't know what to say. "I miss the way in shined in the sun whenever you had your hood down, and how it looked like melted gold upon your head, like a crown that could never be removed." She blushed slightly at his statements, resting her chin on his chest to be able to look up at him. "It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my entire life. It showed the world one of your most exquisite features... your lineage."